Experimental animation turns bike wheel into cyclotrope

One of the most impressive zoetropes we have ever seen was posted about back in January. It was a 3D sculpture of Toy Story characters spinning so fast they animate perfectly. The detail in the characters and the speed achieved makes it something you can appreciate on video, but won’t get the full effect until you see it in person. You can do just that at Disney’s California Adventure or Hong Kong Disneyland.

That Pixar zoetrope must have cost a small fortune to create and setup, but Tim Wheatley, digital animation student, has shown us you can create your very own on a budget and be experimental at the same time.

Rather than a traditional zoetrope he has created a cyclotrope. It has that name due to the use of a bike wheel and gears to get the spinning going at various speeds. That coupled with his use of cardboard cutouts, wire, and clear plastic sheets produces a pretty decent animation which we believe is what his project required at University College Falmouth in Cornwall.

We especially like the use of the clear sheets with the guy riding the bike on. At first we thought it was some intricate wire models, but you can tell when the camera pulls in it’s drawn on a clear surface.

Tim says on his website that this is just an initial test of the cyclotron and he has much bigger plans for it. He’s currently working on a longer piece and has roped in a musician who is working with bikes to create the music. We look forward to seeing the results.